U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,945, assigned to the assignee hereof, is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to removable data storage media as used with, for example, computers and other data-processing devices, such as compact disks. In particular, the present invention relates to a system whereby such removable media can be automatically labeled for visual identification thereof.
Removable data storage media, such as compact disks, are well known in the computer industry. A single compact disk may have loaded thereon data which varies with every use of the compact disk. A common practical problem in environments where removable media such as compact disks are in widespread use is that it is inconvenient for users to label and re-label various compact disks with information relating to the data stored on the compact disk at any particular time. Labeling a compact disk in the first instance is often inconvenient to begin with, and subsequent crossing out or erasing of any written label on a compact disk is merely an opportunity for confusion.
The present invention relates to a design of a compact disk (or other type of removable data storage media) which enables automatic visual labeling of the media as it is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,102 discloses an electro-optical display for a floppy disk. The apparatus utilizes a modified disk housing and a modified disk drive to automatically label the disk with file names being copied to or deleted from the disk. Disposed on the disk housing is an electronic display such as an LCD display, as well as a receiving device for receiving digital data, and a logic/memory device coupled to the receiving device and the display. While the disclosure in this patent represents a disk or other media with an electrically-alterable display, the rather sophisticated arrangement of a processor and an LCD display on a disk will represent a serious cost disadvantage to each disk.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,389,945 and 5,708,525 are examples of patents which disclose an xe2x80x9celectric paperxe2x80x9d concept. In the particular embodiments shown in these patents, a substrate has embedded therein a two-dimensional arrangement of xe2x80x9cbichromal balls,xe2x80x9d each ball having essentially a white hemisphere and a black hemisphere, and each ball being rotatable within the substrate. By external electrostatic or magnetic manipulation of the balls within the substrate, individual bichromal balls can be oriented to have their black hemisphere or their white hemisphere oriented in a particular direction. By selectively orienting various balls in the two-dimensional array, the black hemispheres of certain balls can be oriented such that the hemispheres can collectively form alphanumeric characters. Significantly, the electrical, electrostatic or electromagnetic devices which selectably orient the bichromal balls within the substrate are external to the substrate itself.
Another technology similar in concept to xe2x80x9celectric paperxe2x80x9d is being developed by E Ink(trademark) of Cambridge, Mass. In the E Ink(trademark) concept, small transparent spheres filled with dark blue fluid and white particles are sandwiched between pieces of clear film. Electrical currents applied to the film control the movements of the particles within the spheres, pushing them up or drawing them down. A description of the E Ink concept is given in the article xe2x80x9cFirm Turns a Page in Designing Prototype Flexible Display,xe2x80x9d San Jose Mercury News, Jul. 20, 1998.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory media, comprising a member for retaining data, and an electrically-alterable display associated with the member, the display being alterable through means which are not attached to the member and wherein there is no circuitry attached to the member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing device, comprising a port for accepting a memory media, the memory media including a member for retaining data, and a display associated with the member, the display being alterable through means which are not attached to member and wherein there is no circuitry attached to the member; and means for altering the display while the computer memory media is disposed in the port.